CityDocs Search Basics

Enter a few descriptive keywords into the search box and hit the 'enter' key.

If necessary, further refine your search by adding keywords to your query. By default, CityDocs searches the entire database for records that contain all of the keywords in your query.

Drill down through the various document types to find the record you are looking for. Each department has descriptions of their various document types.

Selecting Keywords

You will achieve the best search results by choosing your keywords wisely. Searches will be performed faster and more accurate if your keywords are kept to a minimum, but are specific. For example, if you want to find an ordinance related to smoking, instead of using the keywords 'smoking in public places ordinance', try 'public smoking'.

Automatic 'AND' Queries

Unless otherwise specified, CityDocs searches for records that include all of the keywords. The words 'AND' and 'OR' are automatically recognized as search operators and are excluded from the keyword search. For example, entering the keywords 'COUNCIL OR AGENDA' would return records that contain either 'COUNCIL' or 'AGENDA', but the word 'OR' is not included in the search. If you require these words in your search, just enclose them in double quotes.

Punctuation

Because the majority of records do not contain punctuation, periods and single quotes are ignored in search queries. They can be manually included by enclosing them in double quotes.

Capitalization

Searches are not case sensitive. All letters are treated as upper case, regardless of how they are entered.